Ernie Kovacs was a comedian from the United States who lived in between 23rd January 1919 to 13th January 1962. Kovacs was best known for is experimental and often ad-libbed comical style that many said was unique only to him. However Ernie's comedy style influenced many television programs following his death, which occurred in a car accident.
Shows that are seen to have Kovacs influence include 'Monty Python', 'The Uncle Floyd Show', 'Saturday Night Live', 'Sesame Street' and even spreads to television hosts such as
Craig Ferguson and
David Letterman.
Ernie Kovacs name is sourced to Hungary, of which he had Hungarian parents. During his early childhood, Kovacs said that he was largely influenced by his drama teacher Harold Kirk at Trenton High School. It was due to him that Kovacs decided to further his interest in the arts by attending acting school. After his graduation in 1939 he went on to be a DJ at WTTM radio. His experience and impressions there caught the eye of
NBC affiliate channel WPTZ where he landed his first television job called Three to Get Ready in 1949.
At this point Kovacs career blossomed and his skills became widespread. He helped develop camera tricks which were still in use over 50 years after he died. Other than helping develop technical assistance in film, Kovacs appeared in many TV specials, films and radio shows.
TV specials included the Silent show in 1957, the Tonight Show in 1956 and a series of specials between 1961 and 1962 for
NBC which is widely considered his best work, titles Ernie Kovacs Special.
Ernie Kovacs had a deep passion for music as well as film. He had a eclectic taste in music from Opera, Ochestra, Mexican folk and blues.
In 1956 Kovacs wrote a novel titled – Zoomar: A Sophisticated Novel about love and TV – which was based on Pat Weaver a television pioneer at the time. His only other published book was 'How To Talk At Gin' published in 1962.
In the years prior to his death, Kovacs had much success in character acting. He was mostly cast as military officers in which he seemed to excel. His filmography includes titles such as Our Man in Havana, Operation Mad Ball and Bell Book and Candle. Just before his death, Ernie had been selected to star in Stanley Kramer's 'It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World'.
Kovacs first married in 1945 to Bette Wilcox with whom he had two children, Elizabeth and Kip. The marriage ended abruptly and Kovacs re-married to Edie Adams in 1954 in Mexico. Edie was a singer by trade and she had one child with Ernie named Mia.
In January 1962, Ernie Kovacs was killed in a car accident in Los Angeles. He and his wife left a party separately and while driving in a hard rainstorm, Kovacs lost control of his vehicle and collided with a power pole in Santa Monica. He was pronounced dead on the scene and was said to have died almost immediately from head and chest injuries.
